A leading Conservative councillor has accused the inspection body which looks at home care for elderly and disabled people of “incompetence”.

Cllr Andrew Cumpsty was referring to an apology sent by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) for putting the wrong information about Reading Borough Council’s services on its website.

Director of housing and community Debbie Ward circulated a letter to cabinet members on Monday last week from CSCI apologising for the mistake which described the borough’s prospect of improvement as “uncertain” when it should have been “promising”.

Amanda Sherlock, regional director South East of CSCI, wrote: “This was regrettable and I understand it has caused you and your authority considerable concern.”

Cllr Cumpsty, leader of the Conservatives, told the cabinet: “The staff deserve far better than this – councillors do not deserve that level of incompetence.”

Lib Dem leader Cllr Gareth Epps said it was a “paradox” that although the service had improved and the borough had similar scores to other authorities it had only been rated with one star – an adequate score – when other councils with the same mix of results had been rated “good” with two stars.

He said the one star category was now a “lonely place to be” because so few authorities were still in it.

Cllr Mike Orton, lead councillor for community care and health, said the mistake had placed a lot of stress on staff.

He emphasised the fact the borough still provides care for people with “greater moderate needs” in their homes while other councils – including every other council in Berkshire – were only providing care for people with critical needs.

He said there was no complacency among the staff, adding: “There is a real drive to carry out all the services that are being given and to meet targets set by the inspectors.”

He said the “inspection” this time was a paper exercise looking at information provided by the council but next year the inspectors would be coming to Reading in person.